Method of making waistbands

ABSTRACT

A METHOD OF MAKING WAISTBANDS FOR PANTS AND OTHER GARMENTS WHEREIN A SERIES OF WAISTBAND PANELS ARE JOINED TOGETHER IN END-TO-END RELATIONSHIP TO FORM A CONTINUOUS SERIES OF WAISTBAND PANELS, THE CONTINUOUS SERIES OF WAISTBAND PANELS ARE MOVED THROUGH A PREDETERMINED PATH, A CONTINUOUS BAND OF FACING MATERIAL IS FED INTO ABUTTING RELATIONSHIP WITH ONE EDGE OF THE CONTINUOUS SERIES OF WAISTBAND PANELS, AND THE FACING MATERIAL IS CONTINUOUSLY ROCAPED TO THE CONTINUOUS SERIES OF WAISTBAND PANELS. THE WAISTBAND PANELS ARE MARKED AND BELT LOOPS ARE ATTACHED TO THE WAISTBAND PANELS IN POSITIONS CORRESPONDING TO THE MARKINGS. LABELS ARE ATTACHED TO THE FACING MATERIAL AT POSITIONS CORRESPONDING TO THE ENDS OF THE WAISTBAND PANELS, THE WAISTBAND PANELS ARE SEPARATED AND THE FACING MATERIAL IS CUT AT POSITIONS ADJACENT THE ENDS OF THE WAISTBAND PANELS ALTERNATELY WITH A STRIAGHT CUT EXTENDING ACROSS THE FACING MATERIAL AND WITH A Y-SHAPED CUT TO REMOVE A PORTION OF THE FACING MATERIAL.

I Feb. 16, 971 E. s. HUDDELSTON 3,562,317

METHOD OF MAKING WAISTBANDS Filed Aug. 21, 1969 ERIE GEORGE HIDDELSTON ATTORNEYS United States Patent O Int. Cl. A41d 1/06 US. Cl. 2-236 11 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A method of making waistbands for pants and other garments wherein a series of waistband panels are joined together in end-to-end relationship to form a continuous series of waistband panels, the continuous series of waistband panels are moved through a predetermined path, a continuous band of facing material is fed into abutting relationship with oneedge of the continuous series of Waistband panels, and the facing material is continuously rocaped to the continuous series of waistband panels. The waistband panels are marked and belt loops are attached to the waistband panels in positions corresponding to the markings. Labels are attached to the facing material at positions corresponding to the ends of the waistband panels, the waistband panels are separated and the facing material is cut at positions adjacent the ends of the Waistband panels alternately with a straight cut extending across the facing material and with a Y-shaped cut to remove a portion of the facing material.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In the manufacture of waistbands for pants and similar garments, the pant leg, belt loops, and the outer waistband panel for a single pant leg assembly usually are cut from the same portion of material so that the various garment parts of the assembled pant leg and its mating pant leg will be color coordinated. Care must be taken in the handling and attachment of the garment parts to assure that the proper belt loops and waistband panels are attached to the correct pant leg and various procedural steps have been developed for organizing and handling the garment parts as they pass through their necessary cutting, folding, stitching and other procedures.

In the manufacture of waistbands it has been customary to assemble the various waistband components individually and by hand; that is, while sewing machines are utilized to actually form the stitches in the assembling process, many of the steps of placement, handling, folding, and cutting of the garment parts have been done by hand. Of course, the hand assembly method requires a large number of machine operators and garment piece handlers, which is expensive and complicates the color coordinating of the garment parts. In a typical process the waistband panels which form the exterior portion of the waistbands of pants are individually attached to a continuous band of waistband facing material with a rocap seam. The waistband panels are usually alternately arranged in abutting and in overlapping relationship with respect to each other when attached to the facing material, so that when the facing material is cut to form individual waistband sections, alternate ones of the waistband panels extend beyond the ends of the waistband facing material in the portion thereof which ultimately forms the outer flap of the fly of the pats, so that the waistband panel can be folded behind the facing material without causing a large bulk of material in this area. This procedure requires the operator to manually fold back a predetermined length of waistband panel material of alternate ones of waistband panels when forming the rocap seam, and continually insert the subsequent waistband panel between the layers of the continuous facing material except for the folded back portions of the waistband panels. The labels and belt loops must be individually handled and attached to the continuous facing material and waistband panels.

After the various items have been attached to the waistband sections, the sections must be cut away from one another by cutting through the continuous facing material at the ends of the waistband panels, and the individual waistband sections must then be stacked in order for attachment to the corresponding pant legs.

In a high speed garment fabricating process, these and the various other procedures are onerous, cumbersome, and the operators frequently make mistakes that result in faulty garment parts which, if discovered and discarded, destroy the color coordination procedures, or if not discovered, result in an imperfect garment.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION -Briefiy described, the present invention comprises a method of making waistbands for pants or the like, which comprises joining together waistband panels in end-toend relationship and attaching the facing, labels and belt loops to the panels while in their joined relationship, and subsequently cutting the facing material and separating the waistband panels from each other. In order to create an overlying relationship between the waistband panel and its attached facing material in alternate ones of the waistband sections, the facing material is cut with a straight line cut across its length at alternate ends of the waistband panels and is cut with a Y-shaped cut at the other alternate ends of the waistband panels to remove the facing material in the vicinity of the outer fly portion of the waistband.

Thus, it is an object of this invention to provide a method of making waistbands, for pants or similar garments which is fully automated, requires virtually no manual steps, reduces the frequency imperfect garment production, increases the speed of garment production, and produces uniform garment parts.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following specification, when taken into conjunction with the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a waistband section, with portions thereof folded back for clarity.

FIG. 2 is a progressive schematic illustration of the method of making waistbands.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now in more detail to the drawing, in which like numerals indicate like parts throughout the several views, FIG. 1 shows a waistband 10 for pants or similar garments, which comprises an outer waistband panel 11 and the inner facing 12. Inner facing 12 comprises two basic sheets of material, inner sheet 14 and shiffening sheet .15. Inner sheet 14 is arranged so that it normally is placed adjacent the body of the wearer, while stiffening sheet 15 is placed outwardly of the wearer from inner sheet 14, between inner sheet 14 and Waistband panel 11. The lower edge of stiffening sheet 15 is received in a U-shaped fold of tape 16. Inner sheet 14 is lap-folded at 18 in the vicinity of the upper edges of U-shaped tape 16, and both upper edge 19 and lower edge 20 of inner sheet 14 are folded inwardly adjacent stiffening sheet 15. Stiifening sheet 15, the upper edges of U-shaped tape 16, lower edge 20 of inner sheet 14 and the lap-fold 18 of inner sheet 14 are all stitched 3 together by seam 21 which holds the lower portions of the sheets of inner facing 12 together.

Outer waistband panel 11 is inserted between the upper edges of stiffening sheet 15 and inner sheet 14 and stitched together by seam 22. This seam is called a rocap, and outer waistband panel 11 is folded over the upper protruding edge of stiffening sheet 15. Belt loops 24 are stitched to outer waistband panel 11, and labels are stitched to the inside surface of inner facing 12,'as described more fully hereinafter.

Outer waistband panels '11 are cut from the same mass of material from which the pant legs and belt loops are cut, and as is shown in FIG. 2, are passed in an orderly manner through a predetermined path 25 for processing into asesmbled waistband sections. The individual waistband panels 11 are marked at 26 by marking pens 28 with a clear ink that is visible under ultraviolet light. Marks 26 are placed at spaced intervals along the lengths of waistband panels 11 which correspond to the ultimate placement of the belt loops 24.

Waistband panels 11 are further moved through path -25 and stitched together in an end-to-end relationship by sewing machine 29. As the waistband panels 11 are further processed, inner facing material 12 is received from a roll or similar supply 30 and guided into abutting relationship with one edge of the series of waistband panels 11. The flaps of inner facing 12 are spread and the continuous edge of the waistband panels 11 is inserted between the flaps. Sewing machine 31 stitches inner facing 12 to wristband panels 11 with a rocap seam which forms a continuous supply of waistband sections.

Seam feeling mechanism 32 engages waistband panels 11 with feeler 34 as the waistband panels pass along path 25. When a seam 35 formed by sewing machine 29 is detected by feeler 34, a label 36 is passed from a supply of labels 37 into position adjacent inner facing 12, and sewing machine 38 stitches label '36 onto inner facing 12. The arrangement is such that label 36 is positioned in a location which is spaced from the position of the detected seam 35, and one label is applied to inner facing 12 for every other waitband panel 11.

As the continuous supply of waistband sections proceeds further along path 25, an ultraviolet light 40 illuminates the marks 26 previously applied by marking devices 28, and detector 41 detects the marks and functions to apply belt loops 24 to the waistband and panels 11. Belt loops 24 are formed by connecting belt loop panels 42 in end-to-end relationship by sewing machine 44, feeding the belt loop panels continuously about a stiffening tape 45, and stitching the belt loop panels about the tape with sewing machine 46. The continuous supply of belt loop material 48 is fed toward path 25 through which the continuous series of waistbands are being passed. As the supply of belt loop material 48 is applied to the continuous waistband material, the belt loop material 48 is cut by the cutting mechanism 49 to form single belt loops 24, and sewing machine 50 stitches one end of the belt loops 24 to waistband panel 11. This procedure is repeated each time detector 41 senses the pressence of a mark 26' on waistband panels 11.

As the continuous series of waistband sections move further along path 25, cutting devices 51 and 52 operate to cut inner facing 12 at locations coresponding to seams 35 of waistband panels 11. Cutting mechanism 51 operates to cut a straight cut across the length of inner facing 12 at each seam 35 and through each seam 35, while cutting device 52 functions to cut a slanted cut in inner facing 12 at alternate ones of seams 35. In this manner, straight cuts 54 and Y-shaped cuts 55 are formed in inner facing 12 and the waistband sections 58 are separated from each other. The Y-cut '55 causes a piece of material 56 to be removed from alternate ones of waistband sections 58. As the waistband sections 58 continue to pass along path 25, they are formed in a stack 59 where they can be transported to the vicinity of the pant legs from which waistband panels 11 and belt loop panels 42 were originally cut, matched together, and formed into pairs of pants.

While marking devices 28 have been illustrated for the purpose of applying marks 26 to waistband panels 11 as the waistband panels pass along path 25, it should be understood that marks 26 can be applied to waistband panels 11 during the initial cutting process or between the cutting process and the point where waistband panels 11 reach pant 25. Furthermore, while marks 26 have been disclosed as being of a fluorescent liquid which is visible only under ultraviolet light, various other marks or indicia can be applied. For instance, the marks 26 can be notches cut in the edge of waistband panels 11, holes, or can be marks detectable by other detecting devices.

Cutting device 49, which is utilized to cut the supply of belt loop material 48 .will be arranged to cut the lengths of belt loop material in equal parts. Feeler 47 will detect the slight break in continuity between the lengths of. belt loop material 48 to determine the ends of the belt loop panels 42 and the first cut will be made at the ends of the belt loop panels with the subsequent two outs coming at predetermined distances along the length of belt loop material 48.

Cutting devices 51 and 52 which cut apart waist-band sections 58 can be controlled by seam feeling mechanism 32 or by a similar sea-m feeling mechanism (not shown) which is in closer proximity to the location of the cutting devices. Cutting devices 51 and 52 have been shown as operating to cut alternate straight and Y-cuts across the breadth of waistband sections 58; however, cutting device 52 can be arranged to cut various different cuts in inner facing 12, as may be desired. For instance, Y-cut 55 can be a rectangular cut or any other shaped cut, to

. properly form the fly fold of the pant. If a relatively stiff outer fly fold is desired, cutting mechanism 52 can be denergized and the entire inner facing 12 can be used in the outer fly fold. On the other hand, if a flexible outer fly fold is desired in the pant, the cut 55 made by cutting device 52 can be of a rectangular shape to remove a large amount of inner facing 12 from the vicinity of the fly fold.

While this invention has been described in detail with particular reference to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood that variations and modifications can be effected within the spirit and scope of the invention as described hereinbefore and as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

I. In a method of making waistbands or the like the improvement comprising joining a series of waistband panels in end-to-end relationship to form a continuous series of waistband panels, and rocaping a continuous strip of facing material to an edge of the continuous series of waistband panels to form a continous strip of waistband sections.

2. The method of claim 1 and further comprising the step of marking each waistband panel at predetermined positions, and attaching belt loops to each waistband panel at positions corresponding to the positions of the marks.

3. The method of claim 1 and further comprising the step of attaching labels to at least alternate ones of the waistband sections at predetermined distances from the connections between the Waistband panels.

4. The method of claim 1 and further including the step of separating the waistband panels from each other in the continuous strip of waistband sections and cutting the facing material at alternate ones of the connections between waistband panels with a straight cut extending laterally across the length of the facing material and cutting away a portion of the facing material at the other alternate ones of the connections between waistband panels.

5. A method of forming waistbands or the like comprising joining together a series of waistband panels in end-to-end relationship, marking the waistband panels, attaching belt loops to the waistband panels at positions corresponding to the location of the marks on the waistband panels, and separating the waistband panels.

6. A method of forming waistbands or the like for garments comprising joining a series of waistband panels to one another in end-to-end relationship to form a series of Waistband panels, moving the series of waistband panels through a predetermined path, and connecting other waistband components to the waistband panels as the series of waistband panels move through the predetermined path.

7 The method of claim 6 wherein the step of connecting other waistband components to the waistband panels comprises marking the waistband panels, and connecting belt loops to the waistband panels at locations corresponding to the marks.

8. The method of claim 6 wherein the step of connecting other waistband components to the waistband panels comprises joining together a series of belt loop panels in end-to-end relationship, folding and sewing the belt loop panels about a strip of stiffening material to form a length of belt loop material, feeding the belt loop material toward the path of the series of waistband panels, severing the length of belt loop material at spaced intervals to form individual belt loops, and sewing the individual belt loops to the waistband panels at spaced intervals along the waistband panels.

9. The method of claim 6 wherein the step of connecting other waistband components to the waistband panels comprises feeding a continuous band of facing materialinto abutting relationship with one edge of the series of waistband panels, and continuously rocaping the facing material to the series of waistband panels.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the step of connecting other waistband components to the waistband panels further comprises sensing the ends of the waistband panels and attaching labels to the facing material at positions corresponding to the locations of the ends of the waistband panels. 3

11. The method of claim 9 and further comprising the step of separating the waistband panels from each other and cutting the facing material at the ends of the waistband panels alternately with a straight cut across the facing material and with a cut which removes a portion of the facing material.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,225,947 5/ 1917 Fleming 2236X 1,944,507 1/1934 Grasso 2236 1,979,300 11/1934 Wachtel et al. 2236 2,040,730 5/ 1936 Engman et al 2-236 2,946,064 7/1960 :Dieterle 2236X ALFRED R. GUEST, Primary Examiner 

